Thursday - November 17, 2016

Opinion - How to fix RPG Side Quests

And it occurred to me while we were discussing it that Dragon Age: Inquisition was millimetres away from a logical solution to the sidequest mundanity annoyance. It comes down to two features of that game: the large number of party members, of which we can only employ two at a time while the rest hang around home base braiding each other's hair or something, and all the War Room stuff that allows us to send imaginary soldiers on imaginary quests that return rewards after a specific amount of real time. The same kind of thing Assassin's Creed did from Brotherhood onwards to let you actually feel like you're commanding a big organisation and not just three jackoffs who live in an unusually large house.

So here was my thinking: why not let us send party members that we're not using to complete sidequests offscreen? Not imaginary quests that are solely for completing offscreen, but the actual quests that the player could have completed but were left for too long and the reward is no longer worth it. Not quests we've just been given, so we can fob off all the gameplay; just the ones that in World of Warcraft would be coloured green or grey on the quest log.

I voiced these thoughts and the point was raised that doing the shitty Farmer Dickcheese quests is part of the experience, it's how we get a sense of the path that our character takes as they grow from humble beginnings to greatness. But I would argue that this benefit is lost after our character has achieved a certain level of greatness, and still has old sidequests cluttering up the log that no longer offer any significant growth. The only thing you can do at that point is quietly delete them from the list (if the game even lets you do that), and that doesn't feel like the heroic thing to do. There's no closure. You have to live with the knowledge that the rats might eat all of Farmer Dickcheese's grain and leave him and his family hungry this winter. And that Mrs. Plopknickers will never again see her little boy who mysteriously vanished near the dark forest.

So: Dishonored 2 is a fantastic game. It may, in fact, be the best game you really shouldn’t risk buying right now, because right now it’s a technical mess. Yes, I hope a patch comes out soon which fixes a lot of these issues – but yes, I’m also worried that a lot of this is baked into the new Void Engine, and if that’s the case… well, this might be something to look into in a year or two. I’ll keep you updated, but for now, a definite “buyer beware” on an otherwise phenomenal game.

Expeditions: Viking - November Newsletter

Well Met Traveler!

If you're reading this then guess what? You've made it! Welcome to the elite group of people with access to the upcoming Expeditions: Viking Beta in December. The Beta will be running for the majority of the month starting around the 15th of December and ending in the new year. We've got loads of new stuff for all of you to test and we're eager to get your feedback.

"So where's my Beta info!?" You ask? Well for very secret reasons, they're not in this mail, but Beta Access codes for Steam and additional information and instructions will be sent to you in an email closer to the launch of the Beta. That's not all though! With the launch of Expeditions: Viking coming in Q1 of next year, we're going to be giving Newsletter subscribers unique pre-launch and launch bonuses as a big thanks from all of us over here, so stay tuned to the Newsletter friends!

Gather Your Party Before Venturing Forth

Raiding villages and hamlets is hard work if you're just one Viking. Loot and thralls are heavy, not to mention the trouble with trying to row a long boat on your own. That's why you get to bring friends!

Looting a village is good wholesome fun for the whole clan!

But... And there's always a but, isn't there? A number of you keen eyed folks have noticed that when it comes to party management and combat, we've been showing a lot of the same characters. This has led some to believe that your motley hird (that's a joke, right there) wont be as... Motley, as it could.

Well, fear not! We haven't showed you other crew members yet, because YOU haven't made them yet!Look! We're bringing identical twins on our adventure!"Wait... What did they just say?" We imagine you saying. Well you heard us! Once you start recruiting mercenaries for your pillaging adventures, you get to create them yourselves!

The story characters will still be there for all the lovely chattiness and banter, but by allowing you to make your own crew members, we're hoping to allow you to create exactly the party that's right for your pillaging needs!

The tool should be good to go for the Beta, and we can't wait to hear what you think of it.

Shiny Things to Look at!

Speaking of adding a bit of character, our Game Designer, Daniel chips in on the importance choice, and how it affects not just your character, but those around you too. We'd go on and on about it, but honestly, it's easier if you just let him do the talking, so click the video below!Dev Blog video! Clicky clicky!A special thanks to all of you that watched and commented on last month's Devs Play, we'll make another next month!

Dungeon Quest

So how do we go about planning all those choices? Well, we've included a dialogue tree for a never before shown area from the Britain Campaign: the dungeon of Eoforwic (modern day York). Essentially, all dialogue looks like this, with multiple choices that can lead to many different outcomes.

In this case it also doubles as a nice way to show off a small teaser from the new dungeon tiles. We'll be showing you more of that at a later time.We spend a lot of time making sure that blindly attacking isn't the only option for an encounter, and while you might not always be able to avoid a fight, we try to make sure that you can at least mitigate it-- if your character is clever enough.

Pyromancy...

"Because if it can burn, it should be on fire" - Some clever bloke

We've been working a lot on skills these past weeks. We showed you some of them last month, and we're currently busy sorting out the animations for them, from our mo-cap trip to Warsaw. We'll be talking a lot more about that in the December issue, where we dig into the new skills, their synergy and so on, but for now, a small teaser for at least one of the skills, and what it does.While setting people on fire may not be the easiest way to make friends, it sure can warm their heart!Speaking of fires, and player choice, we've also begun adding the places where players leave more of a visible fingerprint on the world.

As stated, we want your actions to matter. Now, you wont be destroying every building you come into contact with, but there will be several turning points in the game, where you decide what manner of Viking you are, and how that affects the world around you.

Wrapping Things Up

That's it for this month, but we'll be back before you know it, with all things Expeditions: Viking. Now remember to keep your eyes open for the Beta key email which will be sent out en mass before the Beta begins.

Opinion - ME:A & Fallout 4: An Eerie Resemblance

Happy N7 Day, Dear Reader!I know it's been some time since I've written to you (a little over three months, to be exact), but I managed to wrangle some free time from my increasinly busy schedule. I write to you today to share with you my observations regarding something I am finding increasingly peculiar--the eerie similarities between Fallout 4 and the upcoming Mass Effect Andromeda. We've seen it go the other way around, what with Fallout 4 "borrowing" the equivalent of the wheel conversation structure, and the inclusion of a rather large group of romanceable companions, and now it seems to have come full circle. Note that these observations are made from what amounts to less than ten minutes of actual footage, but ultimately, I've come up with what I feel are six solid reasons that MEA seems to be taking a page or two out of Bethesda's handbook.

#6: Mysterious Underground VaultsWe all know that part of the magic of the Fallout universe are the sinister Vault-Tec bunkers, called "Vaults" in-game, spread throughout the United States. The vast majority of these nuclear hideouts served as more than shelters, with behind-the-scenes experimentation focusing on the vault dwellers. The experiments ranged in scale, but almost always lead to one thing--the mass death of the residents. Looking at Fallout 4's starting vault, Vault 111, we see the perfect example of this, as only the protagonist and Shawn survive the Vault's experimentation. Despite this, however, Vaults are sought after by gamers for a number of reasons--to find hidden treasures; to discover more about the world of Vault-Tec; or maybe simply to take shelter from raiders and supermutants.

While we know very little about the Vaults in Andromeda, we see a few similarities. If you will recall, we were introduced to the Vaults during the Official 4K Tech Video--they're mentioned by name at the 2:07 mark. Prior to this in the video, however, we see the protagonist and his team exploring what appears to be a vast underground area, searching for hidden information. Upon discovering it, he posits that each point on the map could be a Vault on another world. So we already see similarities in these large, underground structures that have been hidden throughout the game world.

Witcher 3 - Best Mods @PC Gamer

Torches are the unsung heroes of The Witcher 3, allowing Geralt to see in the many dark places of his world without being forced to see gray for ages as he would with a Cat potion.This mod lets you get the most use of them. Now Geralt can cast signs, ride his horse, climb over ledges, and even block in battle without having to snuff out his trusty flame.

If you're looking for a better weather experience in Novigrad and environs, then be sure to pick up this relatively recent mod. It places a heavy emphasis on fog, but it also brings other treats such as more snow in Skellige and better light rain animations. If you think it overdoes it, the description page has a list of settings you can freely change with console commands.

Witcher 3

Torment: Tides of Numenera - New Screenshots

by Silver, 20:14

@DSOGaming Some new screenshots have been released for Torment: Tides of Numenera.

Techland has released a new set of screenshots for Torment: Tides of Numenera. Torment: Tides of Numenera is a new RPG from inXile in which players' choices matter, and in which morality is not a simple matter of "right" and "wrong".

The game will pack a thoughtful and character-driven story. Its philosophical underpinnings will drive the game both mechanically and narratively.

The game will also feature hand-crafted set-pieces which combine battles with environmental puzzles, social interaction, stealth, and more.

Torment: Tides of Numenera

Conan Exiles - New Screenshots

by Silver, 20:10

@DSOGamingConan Exiles has released some new screenshots in the lead up to its Early Access release.

Funcom released today a collection of new screenshots which captures just how far the game has progressed visually the past few months. In addition, Funcom announced that the game will support NVIDIA's Ansel technology.

Funcom today also announced that Conan Exiles will be available in 11 languages when it enters Early Access in January 2017: English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.

Funcom CEO Rui Casais said:

"We want to make sure the game is available to as many people as possible from the very start of Early Access. Releasing a game into Early Access means building a community of players around it that helps us as developers realize the full potential of the game. The more people we can include in that process, the better it will be for the game and for the players."

Funcom

Hellhunter - The Monster Guys Interview

by Silver, 19:35

In a podcast the Monster Guys have interviewed the developer behind Hellhunter which is currently being kickstarted.

Dear Hellhunters,

Here's an interview we've recently done with The Monster Guys podcast, they've been a huge influence to Hellhunter and we easily consider them the #1 Cryptozoology podcast out there.In this 50min interview we talk about the development process, investigation and most importantly, going in depth into the various main enemies!

Matt Chat

Jade Empire: SE - Jade Empire Sequel Never Dead

"Jade as a sequel is never dead," said BioWare creative director Mike Laidlaw, who worked as a lead writer on the original.

"There are a lot of people still at the studio who worked on that game and want to get back to it," said BioWare GM Aaryn Flynn. "I think one of the advantages to getting back to it after a long time is not only nostalgia is a very powerful feeling in people, but skipping a generation of hardware is actually really exciting because it feels like it's not an evolution. It's a revolution of what you can do, and I think that's the kind of thing that brings people. What if we were to revolutionize Jade Empire and brought it back in that regard? That's the kind of talk that still happens around the studio."

Jade Empire: SE

Monday - November 14, 2016

Mass Effect: Andromeda - New Alien Race

by Silver, 22:55

@PC Gamer they have information on a new alien race for Mass Effect: Andromeda called Kett. There is a picture of the Kett at the link provided.

The good folk at Game Informer have revealed the first deatiled look at Mass Effect: Andromeda's alien bad guys, a new race known as the Kett. Art director Joel MacMillan says in the video that BioWare took a different approach to the creation of this race than it did with the ETs of previous games, in order to adequately differentiate them from the Milky Way aliens we're more familiar (and comfortable) with.

Unlike the "clean, sleek, hard surfaces" seen on the bulk of the races in the Mass Effect trilogy, the Kett have a more "organic" look to their armor and architecture. BioWare went back and forth a bit on just how alien to make them, though. There was some thought given to designing them to be dramatically more alien than the Asari or Turian, but ultimately the decision was made to keep them bidpedal-and clothed, too. ("Definitely the right choice," MacMillan said.)

Mass Effect: Andromeda

RPGWatch Turns 10 - DOS2 Key Giveaway

by Myrthos, 15:01

Update: This giveaway is closed now.

In our Divinity: Original Sin 2 fundraising campaign, there were quite a number of people who donated money, but did not want the key(s) and mentioned that RPGWatch should give it away instead. So, that is what we will be doing now.To be honest, we have not received these keys yet from Larian Studios. So, I am not sure when we will get them, but when we do get them I'll send them to the winners as soon as posisble.

This giveaway will conclude our series of 5 giveaways, which will have lasted exactly one month.

And here are Da Rulez:

You need to be registered at RPGWatch before the 18th of October 2016, to be able to participate.

You need to reply to this news posting.

Everybody fulfilling the first three rules, gets one ticket for the raffle. Nobody is excluded.

If you have a ticket, then for every year that you are registered at RPGWatch you get one additional ticket (we base this on months, so if you registered in October 2006, you get 10 additional tickets, If you registered in November 2006, you get 9 additional tickets).

If you have a ticket then for every 500 posts you have (at the end of this giveaway), you get one additional ticket.

We will draw as much tickets as are needed to give away all the keys we have. Once you have won, you are excluded from winning another in this giveaway, unless the number of participants is lower than the number of available keys.

If your name is drawn in the raffle, we will sent the key to you via PM.

By default the keys are on Steam only, unless you specifically mention you want a GOG key, in which case we will try (but not guarantee) to get you one.

RPGWatch

RPGWatch Feature - Stranger of Sword City Review

by Myrthos, 12:53

In one of his first articles as a new team member, Forgottenlor dived into Stranger of Sword City and returns to tell us why the Wizardry-esque JRPG hits all the right notes.

Like in the classic Wizardry games, you have two rows in your party. The back row is only susceptable to ranged, magic, and some special attacks, while the front row takes the brunt of the damage. There are four front row classes: the defensive knight, the tough but not particularly accurate damage-dealing warrior, the more fragile ninja who specializes in killing single targets, and the more fragile samurai who can damage large groups of opponents. In the back is the ranger who specializes in taking down single opponents, the wizard, the priest, and the dancer, who is the only class that can use melee weapons at range and can use multiple consumable items each round. You can go without any of these, since the dancer can be as effective a healer as the priest, though this certainly costs more in terms of gold. Each class gains skills as they level up. Skills can be active, passive, a weapon proficiency, or the ability to use multiple spells. Each time you switch classes with a character you can "equip" skills from the former class. Each character starts with two slots, and gains an additional each time they reach level 13 in any class. The only downside to switching classes is that you start your new class at half of your old classes's level and class level determines hit and dodge chance to a great degree, as well as what level spells you can cast. This makes for a very interesting system that gives character development a lot of depth, allowing you to build all kinds of unusual characters (including ones that are pretty useless.)

Zombasite - New Patch and More Reviews

Zombasite is an interesting take on the action RPG and is definitely something you can sink your teeth into, the strategic as well as the procedural nature of it all gives it a lot more longevity compared to the usual fare. It’s definitely a thinking man’s game.

Zombasite is a niche title, but that doesn’t mean it’s got a big sign hanging out the front that says “only hardcore gamers need apply.” The folks in its community have put up guides to help familiarize new players with a lot of the various systems, the developer has a manual that lays out the basics, and the game itself is pretty forgiving when it comes to actually playing it and learning everything. It’s easier, too, to figure things out when you’ve got a few people looking at it. Managing a group of post-apocalyptic survivors is more fun when you’ve got a couple of friends around to help you do it, and I found myself getting a little more invested in everything when I was working with couple of people instead of all on my own. While it may be most inviting to those gamers that are looking for an ARPG with a little something different to offer from the usual loot grind, there are enough interesting ideas here that it’s worth a little bit of exploration by everyone.

Given a substantial budget, a bigger team, and a little more focus on user-friendliness, Zombasite could be a real winner, thanks to its unique approach to factions and an overworld that teems with incident. It isn’t a great-looking game and those unwilling to dive a bit deeper below the surface will be tempted to dismiss it as a low-rent ARPG with a hackneyed premise. Soldak could be on the verge of something great if it could abandon some of the more tired conventions of the genre that other games have already left behind.

Zombasite

Balrum - Version 1.2 Released

by Myrthos, 12:41

Last week version 1.2 of Balrum was made available. If the lack of achievements in this game was holding you back in playing it, then you will be happy to learn that there are now 42 of them on Steam. However for those that are less interested in that, there are some other new features as well.

Some of the more noteworthy new features: -Achievements! (There are a total of 42 achievements to acquire.)

-Added comparative tooltips for equipments.

-You are now able to delete custom made recipes.

-Grandmaster difficulty! We added an even more challenging difficulty mode to Balrum for those who seek an even greater challenge.

-By pressing Shift + F2 you can disable/enable the interface.

-Reworked a part of the GUI. (panel focus and responsiveness improvements)

Other small additions: -ALT + click now puts materials inside crafting tables intelligently. -Autosaves won't happen when the player is below 10% health. -Cheat death now gives back more health. -Fields no longer get diseased if they are properly tended too. -Enabled numpad walk commands. -Tutorial popup when your pet dies or gets automatically dismissed. -Reduce Gore option is available in the options panel. -Game saves now show the chosen difficulty.

Balrum

Hero-U - Risk and Rewards

by Myrthos, 12:36

In this month's update for Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption we are informed about the way lockpicking works in the game, teh risks and rewards of backing a Kickstarter game and that the release is still scheduled for the second quarter of next year.

I learned a lesson in improbability many years ago while playing Risk. My 12 armies were about to eliminate a player’s last two defenders. When the dust cleared multiple dice rolls later, my lone remaining army stared helplessly at the remaining single defender.

The lesson – high probability is not the same thing as certainty, and low probability is not the same thing as guaranteed failure. We all watched those lessons hammered home in last Tuesday’s U.S. Presidential election, and before that with the Brexit vote.

It’s an important lesson for game designers – there is no such thing as a 90% chance in a one-time puzzle. That puzzle is really a 100% chance for 90% of the players, and a 0% chance for the other 10%. If you want players to solve the puzzle, make it 100% solvable, or allow players to try multiple times until they solve it.

Lockpicking in Hero-U works that way – you might encounter a lock Shawn can’t open, but he’ll get a little practice attempting it. After enough practice and study, and a more advanced toolkit, Shawn can come back and open the lock. Trap disarming involves both Shawn’s skill and the player’s, but every trap can be disarmed with practice and cleverness.

SO excited to share this with you, this is a document I've wanted to get my hands on for YEARS, and I just got in contact with the writer of an article on them, Joe Martin (Venerate his name and obey him in all things!), and he sent them to me! He was, as of the writing of the article, unable to fully share them, apparently this has changed.

Going through it is an absolute gold mine.

Tilson and the Ghoul are the best characters, the original endings are really fascinating(I love that if your too slow the ending changes!), and the game is so MASSIVE in scope, it outstanding to read. . I haven't even read it for 5 mins, shaking with excitement. I've only skimmed through these very briefly, haven't even had them for much more then 10 minutes. You'll all be going through them fresh with me.

If that wasn't enough he ALSO sent me Thief 4 (the cancelled modern day reboot! not the one we got!) design docs, and Ion storm Design documents!

Obsidian Entertainment

Sunday - November 13, 2016

Stellar Tactics - KZ-MR7

Long though lost, KZ-MR7, a Halamis research facility, was re-discovered several hundred years ago when Martin Varis crash landed on Achmedius VIII. Rumors and reports describe the facility as an advanced energy research station built on planetary ley-lines.

The facility, run by Professor Garrius Brons, developer of the FTL Drive, was funded through Halamis Corporation by House Shikaru shortly after the "Arrival". Years of secretive research ended when rumors that a powerful energy rift was generated, destroying the facility and everyone in it. Subsequently, the planet was flagged as "Off-Limits", however, illegal mining on the planet continues to this day.

Martin Varis explored the facility for years with a small team of mercenaries, scrapping parts and gathering information. He swore that every time he entered KZ-MR7, the very structure of the facility changed, as though he was stepping into a parallel universe. He told stories of horrible mutations, hellish creatures and squads of elite military personnel infesting the facilities permutations.

Several years later, Martin and his team re-entered KZ-MR7 one last time. They were never heard from again. A rescue party was assembled, however, the mysterious facility could not be found. It was as if KZ-MR7 disappeared off the face of the planet, leaving nothing behind...

[...]

When I release KZ-MR7, you will be able to accept missions from NPC's on the Achmedius Trade Station. These NPCs will send you to the surface of Achmedius VIII to explore the facility. Missions will be randomly generated and the facility will change when a mission is provided. This includes enemy placement, loot, objectives and the global layout of the facility.

A few details related to KZ-MR7 when it's released:

I'll be fixing any bugs that are found and making sure the system is 100% stable before moving on when the build is released.

Stellar Tactics

The Dwarves - Meet "Boindil" Video

by Silver, 21:25

@Gamebanshee This video introduces Boindil as part of a hero spotlight series in the lead up to the games release.

KING Art Games' forthcoming RPG The Dwarves will feature a total of fifteen different playable characters, and through the availability of a new "hero spotlight" video series, the team is giving us a chance to get to know some of them. In this entry, we're introduced to the "killing machine" named Boindil Twoblade:

The Dwarves

Pamela - Dreams do come true

Oh hi! I didn’t see you there. It’s a good thing I have this Dev Blog handy here with me…

The dev team is coming up to an exciting couple of weeks here as some long-awaited features are starting to be created! Many of these features have been planned for well over a year, if not longer, so you can imagine how excited we are to see these dreams becoming a reality. The first of which are random and timed events that James has made some stellar progress on this week. So far you can expect to see riots break out, power outages that you’ll have to investigate, security lock-downs you’ll probably want to avoid and of course the constant depletion of things like food, drinks and energy from Eden as its inhabitants nibble away at its supplies. All put together, these events will help keep the game fresh, the world dynamic and the difficulty ever-increasing. And more events will be created next week, and further in the future as well!

This week we’ve also done an integration pass on many of the new features and systems that have been created in the previous weeks. This essentially means getting all of these new things out of our test scenes and into the game, ready to be played! Ian made some great progress tracking down some nasty bugs that were clinging like velcro and made a sweet new system that will allow us to have more precise reflections with a much lower cost than before. James on the other hand implemented his new spawning/respawning system and many more features into the main scene as well.

That sure sounds like a lot of stuff… But what’s this? There’s more?!

Adam

Finished the “High Security Rehabilitation” area inside the Garrison district

Started and finished “Low Security Rehabilitation” area inside Garrison

Pamela

The Deep Paths: Labyrinth Of Andokost - Review

by Hiddenx, 19:38

Watcher Dark Savant spotted this review for The Deep Paths: Labyrinth Of Andokost:

Review: The Deep Paths: Labyrinth Of Andokost

The last couple of years have seen a tremendous increase in indie developers tackling the CRPG nische market. After completing The Quest I was looking for another RPG to sink my teeth in. First I tried Paper Sorcerer but never got hooked by it. It was by pure accident I found this game on steam for only $7 dollars to be released very soon.

The Deep Paths: Labyrinth of Andokost is a dungeon master clone with a four party assemble trying to solve a mystery below a city. The game is developed by only one person but still manage to achieve well respected graphics and sound. The game is far from as polished as Legend of Grimrock but still manages to hold on its own and the price tag is really attractive.

It reminds me very much of Crystal Dragon and Black Crypt for the Amiga. Not the least because of the colour palette used which is light brown. The game is extremely simple, yet functional with only three classes (Warriors, Rogue, Wizard). You are allowed to re-roll your attributes as much as you dare to and then the game begins. The four attributes wither helps to increase your damage output, armour class, mana or health.

[...]

Despite those minor drawbacks I had great fun playing this game. It reminded me of old good times and the game was bugfree for me. I also love the loading screens which have sampled the sound of an amiga discdrive loading. The title music to the game is very catching and good and I found myself listening to it a lot by itself.

The game also lacks any manual. I won´t say it was necessary. Much of the information is explained by tooltips but a short manual is always appreciated and it helps potential buyers to get a good overview of what the game offers.

The Deep Paths: Labyrinth Of Andokost

Daggerfall - What Skyrims sequel can learn

by Silver, 13:41

@Indigo Gaming they discuss the merits of Daggerfall and what the Skyrim successor can learn from it.

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A video about the 1996 Elder Scrolls game, Daggerfall, and comparing it to its more popular successors like Skyrim. While its technical prowess is outright prehistoric by today’s standards, if you look past its dated visuals, you will discover the many concepts and mechanics at play in this game that have not only been virtually untouched in other franchises, but even in future games of this series.

So what could future Elder Scrolls games learn from their past? Let’s take a look.

Daggerfall

Abandon Ship - Ship Adventure

Captain a sail ship and survive in Abandon Ship, FTL-inspired tactical game

Abandon Ship will let you become a sail ship captain, roam the seas, and face countless dangers in a procedurally generated world. It will also teach you a lesson on losing everything you've got and having to rebuild your position from scratch.

If you’ve always dreamed of becoming a captain of an 18th-century sail ship roaming the unexplored seas full of enemy vessels and deadly monsters, you should definitely keep an eye on Abandon Ship, a tactical strategy in the fashion of FTL: Faster Than Light and Sunless Sea. In this game by indie studio Fireblade Software you’ll get to command a ship and her crew while exploring procedurally generated world, completing quests, fighting naval battles, and dealing with all sorts of random events.

Mass Effect: Andromeda - Summary

Mass Effect: Andromeda – everything we know and tons of new info following N7 Day

This year’s N7 Day has brought loads of new facts about Mass Effect: Andromeda. Bite into our recap written by a fan who knows the franchise like the back of his own hand.

The day has finally come for BioWare and Electronic Arts to reveal something more about the new Mass Effect. Although we still haven't seen any significant portion of gameplay footage (which is to be shown during The Game Awards event on December 1), there’s some video material and information that can help us make a preliminary outline of Andromeda. Below, I will try to analyze the most important news brought by this year's N7 Day. And things to work on are a plenty. [...]

Cyberpunk 2077 - What to expect?

Cyberpunk 2077 – what to expect from an RPG made by the studio that gave us The Witcher 3?

Although Cyberpunk 2077 has occupied a place in our minds for more than four years now, there’s literally no information pointing to what the new CD Projekt RED game is going to be. Still, there are sources allowing us to make certain assumptions.

In the field of triple-A games, cases such as Cyberpunk 2077 are few and far between. Entertain the following idea for a second: how many developers decide to announce a project just to keep it in the cellar for the next five years, feeding us mere shreds of information and convincing people that the work is still in progress? Even Mass Effect: Andromeda, which hasn’t really been a high-profile project during the four years since its announcement (similar time span as Cyberpunk’s), cannot hold a candle to CD Projekt RED’s secrecy.